Sale of Annapolis boat shows finalized

The company that runs the annual boat shows in Annapolis was officially sold Monday afternoon, as has been planned for months.

Longtime owner Ed Hartman, who clashed with former Mayor Josh Cohen, sold the business to a group of investors that includes show manager Paul Jacobs and others in the local maritime industry.

The show management team will carry over to the new ownershop of the company, United States Yacht Shows Inc. The company will sponsor four shows in 2014: the Bay Bridge Boat Show in Stevensville in April, the Annapolis Spring Sailboat Show in April, and the United States Sailboat Show and United States Powerboat Show in Annapolis in Octover.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Hartman had said he was already considering a sale when tensions with Cohen forced him to sell more quickly -- and at a lower price -- than he anticipated. Hartman was a vocal opponent to a Cohen-backed master plan for the downtown City Dock area. The boat shows lease space from the city at City Dock.

Hartman also opposed a zoning proposal from Cohen that would have paved the way to redevelop the vacant Fawcett Boat Supplies building on Compromise Street, because it would have meant less space available for the boat shows.

The zoning proposal died and an amended version of the City Dock plan was approved by the Annapolis City Council before this fall's election. Cohen was defeated by Mayor Mike Pantelides, who was sworn in on Monday afternoon.